I will not let you die
by smaragdbird
Summary: Lorne and Cadman are buried and while they wait for rescue, they talk and a hurt Lorne gives Cadman blackmail material for years. Slash Lorne/Parrish with Cadman/McKay/Beckett background


"Breathe, sir." Evan woke up to Laura saying exactly those words which was ridiculous because he was breathing, wasn't he? There was something heavy against his chest and his feet felt numb, maybe he fell asleep on his desk again, doing Sheppard's paperwork?

"Breathe!" Laura slapped him. Evan was pretty sure that she wasn't allowed to do that but he couldn't remember why. After a few heartbeats had passed he managed to say:

"Ow."

Laura's laugh sounded so unlike her, hysteric and breathless and not happy at all. Her laughter was like David's smile: full of sunshine and ice-cream and picture perfect memories.

"Evan." She gasped out between her breathless laughs.

"Why is dark?" He asked. Because he had a distant memory of stargates and ruins and a snide remark David had made about Stackhouse's archaeologist Corrigan while Evan had contemplated which colours he would use to catch the dance of sunlight and shadows in David's hair on canvas.

"Because the ruins collapsed over us." Laura said: "Reed and David are on their way back to get help."

"Why didn't David stay?" Not that Evan didn't like Laura, he did, she was one of his best friends but she didn't have the habit to dress in his clothes which were too small for David and made him look even taller and sexier than usual.

"Too much information." Laura said but she couldn't help but grin, which meant he had just said everything out loud.

"And David couldn't stay because neither Reed nor I have the ATA gene to fly Radka."

Radka was their jumper. It was Evan's and Radek's favourite because they had pieced it together when Evan had come to Atlantis and cemented their friendship. They had named it in honour of one of Radek's pigeons.

"I know, I was there, remember?" Laura told him and damn, he should be noticing the difference between thinking and talking, shouldn't he?

"Don't worry. Carson will put you back together."

"You're only saying this because he's your boyfriend." This time he was pretty sure that he had talked.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." He didn't see it but he could hear her brushing her hair aside.

"Rodney thinks you're pretty when your hair is down." He told her. This time Laura's laugh sounded happy.

"He told you that?" She asked disbelievingly.

"He likes to make pillow talk."

"I know why I know that but why do you know that?" She asked.

"Can you repeat that?" He asked her, genuinely puzzled by her last sentence. He tried to squint to make her out in the darkness but it was no use.

"When did you have pillow with Rodney?" Oh, that was what she meant.

"We used to sleep together. Before I met David."

"You met David like a month after you came here. Did you just hit off with Rodney on your first day or what?"

"We saved the world at SGC. Separately but we saved it. I like brains."

"You will feel so sorry for yourself." Laura practically glowed with glee, he was sure of it: "I'm going to blackmail you with this conversation for years."

"That's against regulation." Evan felt obliged to point out but so was bribery and Sheppard bribed him with nice, uneventful planets to keep Evan doing his paperwork.

"Technically so are you and David." She shot back. And okay, Evan had to admit that she had a point there:

"Okay, blackmail me."

"Thank you." She sounded amused. Her eyes sparkled when she was amused just like David's did when discovered some new plant.

Evan felt dizzy and the thoughts in his head swam around wildly, more than they had before.

"Laura, can you remove this thing on my chest? It makes it hard to breath."

"I can't. It's too heavy, sorry. Here." She took his hand in hers and held on tight: "Just breathe. I will not let you die."

Who had something about dying? He just wanted to take a break from breathing because that was really hard with the heavy thing on his chest.

"It's okay, Ev. It's okay." He could feel her smaller hand stroking through his hair: "Tell me something, just talk to me. Tell me how beautiful David is."

When he woke up everything was light pastel like the walls and ceilings of Atlantis and Evan felt pleasantly numb.

Someone said:

"Carson, he's awake."

And another voice whispered:

"Davey, wake up."

While Carson checked him Evan could see Rodney, looming uneasily over Carson's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Rodney asked awkwardly in front of so many people. Evan nodded.

"Good...Because it would be difficult to find someone else who puts up with Zelenka."

"Rodney."Carson admonished and Laura said:

"Good to have you back." before she dragged Rodney out of the infirmary.

"You tortured me enough, Doc." Evan croaked at Carson. He really wanted to see David's sunshine smile and he wanted all for himself.

"Aye, I'll leave you to your knight in shining armour." Carson smiled and patted his arm.

"Hey." David said with a bright, relieved grin.

"Hey." Evan croaked back.

"Next time we do as I say and leave the ruins for Corrigan."

"Okay." Evan agreed. He didn't want to argue with David. He just wanted to see David's sunshine smile and go back to sleep.

"But I had some bonding time with Laura." Evan pointed out and there it was. That one kind of smile that he had only ever seen on David. He happily slipped back into sleep while David said something about giving Laura blackmail material for years.


End file.
